Islanders to start Joey MacDonald against Chris Osgood

Newsday's Greg Logan reports that the New York Islanders plan on starting former Red Wings prospect Joey MacDonald against Chris Osgood tonight:

March 27, Newsday: Facing Detroit in Joe Louis Arena isn't exactly the softest spot for a comeback, but goaltender Joey MacDonald, who has been out 17 days with a minor knee injury, and center Doug Weight, who has missed six weeks while recovering from a sprained medial collateral ligament, wouldn't have it any other way. MacDonald spent six seasons in the Red Wings' organization, and Weight was born in Detroit and both share the eagerness of the young kids on the last-place Islanders to face the first-place Wings tonight.

Coach Scott Gordon didn't offer much detail on his decision to choose MacDonald over Yann Danis in net for this one except to say he planned to play MacDonald once in the weekend back-to-back that concludes Saturday at home against Philadelphia. But it might have something to do with giving MacDonald a chance to face a team that largely relegated him to duty at AHL Grand Rapids except for eight games with Detroit in 2006-07.

"I'm pretty excited," MacDonald said after the pre-game skate today. "To come back and face a former team, there's a lot of familiar faces over there that I spent a lot of time with. I'm excited, and it's going to be a good challenge. They're the best NHL team for a reason. We've got to keep it simple and stay out of the penalty box because they've got one of the best power plays in the league. Just do what we've been doing. They fire a lot of pucks on net. It doesn't matter who they play. They have a lot of quality 'D' back there, and they throw pucks on net and have guys like [Tomas] Holmstrom and [Johan] Franzen in front of the net that seem to get their sticks on every puck. They're like the Devils. They shoot a lot of stuff on net and have guys in front, too. Everybody's excited. When you come to the 'Joe,' everybody's emotional. You're playing against the top team in the league, it's a great building, there's a lot of memory going in this building, everybody is excited to play, and it's going to be a great crowd, too."

The defending Stanley Cup champions are tied with Western Conference rival San Jose for first in the NHL and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, while the Isles rank 30th in the league. Detroit's 276 goals scored are 33 ahead of second-best Boston, while the Isles have 184 goals, tied with Phoenix for last in the NHL. Talk about coming from the opposite ends of the spectrum.

Gordon knows his players are excited about the opportunity, but the Islanders have lost three straight while giving up a total of 16 goals, including 11 by Danis in the previous two games.

"The Red Wings are a standard in the NHL," Gordon said. "It's certainly a feel-good thing if we come out and play them hard and compete against them. I was talking to Brad McCrimmon, [Red Wings] assistant coach. I asked, 'How is it?' And he says, 'I just [clap] on the bench.' Their skill level and talent level is probably far and away better than probably every team in the league. It's certainly not going to be an easy game for us, but if we catch them on an off night, as far as working, we have a good chance. If they come ready to play, it's going to be a tough game for us. As Brad said, 'They don't take too many nights off.' Their best players are low maintenance guys. They go out and work."

Warren's Doug Weight also expects a great game tonight:

"It's a big game for us coming into a building against a team with 107 points that is playing for first overall. It's going to be a fun test. I want to be part of a successful night. I'm going to get the puck deep and slowly try to build my confidence and make some stuff happen."